


Clandestine

by imadragon



Series: Surrogates [2]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Autobots - Freeform, Emotional Roller Coaster, Friendship, Human/Cybertronian Hybrids, Hybrids, Kidnapping, More mellow fic, Robot Feels, Robot/Human Relationships, tiny bit of violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-04-22 11:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4833803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imadragon/pseuds/imadragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the second half of my Surrogates series, Jessica and Natalie try to adjust to their current situations and try to push on as best they can<br/>(Set in the Bay universe without a specific timeline. Obviously not canon)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Natalie's Debrief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are finally out of enemy hands

“Everything happened so quickly, I almost didn’t realize what was happening.”

“Just tell me what you remember.”

“I remember… a very loud explosion. It was so loud that I couldn’t hear what anybody else was saying for a little while… then the yellow one came in and I think he was trying to talk to me- at first I was afraid that he was one of the Decepticons that I hadn’t met, but then he got down to look at me on my level. The Decepticons just don’t do that unless… and I couldn’t see his mouth so I don’t know what he was trying to say. He tore my chains from the wall and then picked both of us up. It really only dawned on me that he was an Autobot when the sedatives started to wear off and I could make out his eye color.”

“And then what happened?”

“I- I don’t-”

“Miss Crest, I know that this is difficult for you… but we need to debrief you. I need you to tell me _everything_ that you can remember.”

“He was holding us to his chest, I couldn’t see anything else!”

“Well then what did you hear?”

“Shooting… yelling… bots yelling in Cybertronian… he tripped a little and I got scared that he was going to crush us, but he was so careful… then we were running down the hallway and up the stairs. The light was so blinding, I wasn’t used to real light anymore... Then the green one transformed and the yellow one put us in the back. These… _metal worm things_ came out of nowhere and strapped the Jessica into the gurney before he started telling me what to do. I think I blacked out after meeting Robert on the plane because the next thing I saw was the doors opening and them wheeling both of us out, but they wouldn’t take me with her. They wouldn’t take me with Jessica and I don’t even know-”

“Jessica is still alive, don’t worry.”

“BUT WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! NOBODY WILL TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS, NOBODY WILL LET ME SEE HER!”

“She’s in a coma, Miss Crest.”

     That’s when Natalie lost it.

“Miss Crest! MISS CREST!”

     She was already up and pulling on the door handle. She needed to see her, she needed to see  
Jessica. She couldn’t even feel when Captain Lennox tried pulling her back to calm her down. The mantra that she had pushed down into her gut for so long just kept bubbling up, finally reaching the surface.

“It’s my fault. It’s my fault. It’s my fault…”

“NATALIE!” Lennox finally shouted, startling her. He took her hands gently off of the door handle, “None of this is your fault! There is nothing you could have done that would have changed what happened!”

“SHE PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE _ME_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double submission because I wanted to get the ball rolling


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalie meets most of the other Autobots, and it doesn't go well

     When Natalie and Ratchet pulled up to N.E.S.T. the first thing she noticed was that all of the Autobots were a lot less intimidating than her previous captors. They didn’t look down at her with malice or contempt, but with sympathy. She almost froze when Epps helped her out of the large truck. She was still reeling from her previous talk with Lennox, and she still didn’t quite remember how she was supposed to act around other humans. They had walked on eggshells around the Decepticons for so long, it was going to be a tiresome process to kick the habit.

     The one Robert had told her about-the one known as Optimus Prime-nodded to her solemnly as she was about to pass him. She almost flinched at the subtle motion. The Decepticons used that expression often instead of taking the time to talk to her.

“My name is Optimus Prime,” his deep voice bellowed, “and these are my Autobot comrades: Ratchet, Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee. We received your transmission only a short while ago. I hope you can forgive our untimeliness.”

“Forgive you? You _rescued_ us… I have no way of repaying what you did for us.”

“There is no need for any kind of compensation on your part. I am just sorry that we did not get your message in time.” She saw the hesitation in his next question, “The other female-”

“Jessica.”

“Jessica… Ratchet told me that she was also pregnant at one time.”

“Yes.”

“What happened to it?”

     Even though she had been through so much, answering such a sensitive question in a room full of gigantic metal aliens seemed highly inappropriate.

“It- she-”

“You needn’t answer if you do not wish-”

“She lost it. On purpose.”

   Optimus knelt down low, leaning onto his right hand to get on her eye level. The gesture made her visibly flinch. The only time a bot ever did that to her was when she was going to be punished. He sensed her discomfort and backed away to a more comfortable distance,

“And how did she, if I may ask?”

“There were stairs in our bedroom… they were slippery and we didn’t tell them that they were too dangerous… she had to do it three times before… before she-”

     Natalie finally broke down crying, even after all the time that had passed since they had taken off from their prison. The wounds were still fresh in her mind, and she couldn’t take the strain.

     Optimus waited patiently for her to calm down, but Bumblebee couldn’t just stand by and watch this little femme break down. He had been with humans too many times to just sit back and watch one of them lose it. As gently as he could, he reached down and stroked her back with his finger.

     None of them realized just how much worse it would make her.

     She jumped up and began screeching, telling them not to touch her, that she wouldn’t let them do to her what Starscream had done so many times before. Bee jumped back, not realizing what she was alluding to. He put his hands up and tried to tell her with various voice clips that he wouldn’t touch her again without her permission, and that all of them would make sure that no one else did either, but she didn’t believe them. She ran between two small Chevys and got down on the floor, out of their views. She could hear them trying to whisper amongst themselves. ‘Traumatized’ was the first word she could make out. She listened closely until she finally heard Ironhide speaking in a louder voice, “Do not do anything that she did not explicitly say you can do. She does not need any more stress than what she’s already got. Leave her be until she’s ready to talk.”

     A wave of relief swept through her. She could hear Bumblebee’s protests, and even though they sounded full of genuine worry, it would still take some time before he would be allowed to touch her like that again. She had absolutely no more room for trust- especially not for Cybertronians.

“Man, what a drama queen.”

     She barely had time to realize just where the voice was coming from before the green and red cars transformed around her.

“You’d think she’d be grateful!”

     It took all of two seconds before Bumblebee was next to her and dragging both of the other Autobots away from her.

“You don’t… have any… right to... chastise… her…”

“We was just messin’ around, chill out man!”

     That was the last straw for him. He knocked both of their heads together and then flung them out of the hangar. Natalie was still on her knees, but all the while she watched the yellow bot defending her with an anger she had only seen from one other person.

He looked back at her once they were gone, “I’m sorry for them… they’re… idiots.”

     She tried to smile at him, but it came across so weak and pitiful that she was sure he wouldn’t understand just how thankful she truly was, but his eyes smiled at her with a warmth that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Do you… need help?” She looked at him quizzically, “Getting up.” He finished.

“Oh-”

     He set his hand on the floor near her, palm up. He didn’t want to reach for her because of what she’d done last time, but he didn’t want to just leave her to get up on her own. She stared at the large appendage for a long time until she finally resigned herself to pulling herself up with it. She would have refused if not for her very obvious stomach, and she really didn’t want to try and get up with it.

     She was much more nimble than he thought she’d be, which surprised him. He stole a quick glance at her wrists as she let go, but he was careful enough to not let her notice. It didn’t matter to him that she didn’t want him around, she had already found a place in his spark when he saw how damaged she was. He would care for her, even if it had to be from a distance.

“I almost forgot!” he pulled a small box from a compartment that Natalie couldn’t see. “I grabbed… this for… you. Figured… it was yours.”

     Natalie almost laughed out loud when she opened her gift.

“You actually saved my dragon for me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for future reference- any time Bee is talking and it's NOT in Italics then he's using voice clips. I figured it'd be easier since he didn't use his real voice a whole lot in any of the movies (literally just talked for like one line... I always liked his voice, I wish they had fixed it somehow. I mean even in TFP he could talk in the end. Like really Bay, really?)
> 
> Also added more tags for the human characters, I forgot to since I was so focused on the bots
> 
> It's actually a lot easier to write for the Autobots than the humans since I have a lot more to go off of from the movies and all of the TV series'. It's fun to write someone who speaks in a way that you would expect a god to speak in


	3. Sweet Honeybee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalie makes some new friends

_Natalie didn’t know how Optimus always seemed to know what she was going to say or what she needed to hear, but he was good at what he did. It sometimes annoyed her that he could read her so easily, but it seemed that he could do so for everyone on base. She wasn’t sure if it was because he knew her so well, or if humans were just predictable, but it nonetheless amazed her. She began to understand just why he was their leader, and she eventually began to seek out his advice and his reassuring words. She was never close to her real father, but it was easy with Optimus._

 

     They seemed genuinely concerned with her well-being instead of showing concern for only the fetus. Their medic, Ratchet, was also a lot gentler in his examinations; taking care to ask if what he was doing was causing her any discomfort, and telling her just what he was doing and why he was doing it. It surprised her every time since Knockout had never given her the same courtesy.

     The rest of the bots either felt sympathetic towards her and tried to be nice to her, or they didn’t want to interact with her at all. There was no middle ground, and all of their behaviors were starting to weigh on her. Hearing the constant whispers about her- having people wonder why she didn’t agree to terminate, or why she was even still allowed to live at all…

     Bumblebee was especially attentive towards her since he was the one that initially found her at the compound. Natalie didn’t mind, though. He was sweet to her and seemed to be very apologetic towards her situation. It made her wonder what he had been through to make him understand her so well. He also made her laugh which was something that she so desperately needed, especially since Jessica wasn’t there to cheer her up. She often ended up curling up near him or in his back seat because she felt safer with him than anyone else.

     Bee talking through the radio took some getting used to, but once she did she found it very charming, and sometimes hilarious. Hearing an Autobot speaking like John Wayne and Ariel from the Little Mermaid was sometimes too much to handle.

“Why do you talk like that?”

“My voice… damaged… in battle.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“It’s alright… I don’t mind. Sometimes I can… _speak like this_.”

“Oh! Is that your real voice?” he smiled and nodded. “It’s very nice, I like it a lot!”

     He responded with a very happy humming noise that made Natalie giggle.

“ _I like that you like it. It’s just_ a… shame… that I… can’t do it often.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.” She reached up and patted his much larger face.

“ _I’m glad you’re my friend, Natalie._ ”

     The worst thing besides not having Jessica by her side were the constant looks that she got from all the humans on base. They were the same ones her cousin got when she was a victim of spousal abuse; ones of complete horror and forced sympathy, ones that made her go and hide whenever Ratchet was done running his daily tests on her. She became very grateful to him when he told her that he was going to just start running scans instead of poking and prodding her all the time. He could see her discomfort with him, and he had a very clear picture of just why that was, so he decided to just let her be most of the time. He guessed that Knockout had done a good job at taking care of her, if he hadn’t then Megatron would have had his head.

     The only time she ever got any real solace was when she would lay in Jessica’s bed with her. Hearing her ventilator push air in and out of her lungs and watching her brainwaves on the monitor gave her some comfort. The fact that it showed that Jessica was still in the realm of the living… it just meant too much for her to explain to anyone. She didn’t know what she would do if Jessica never woke up.

“At least you don’t have to worry about being a human incubator anymore.” She whispered as she stroked her cheek. “Now you can get back to the important things…”

 

     No one dared comment on her red, puffy face whenever Lennox came to finally pull her out of Jessica’s room. Bumblebee wouldn’t stand for it if they did. The twins had made that mistake once while they were in his presence. Ratchet didn’t even bother asking what happened when they showed up to the med bay moments later- he just treated them and told them to get out. He knew that Bumblebee felt strong bonds with those he protected, so he wasn’t surprised in the least at his sudden outbursts. He was honestly just glad that someone was putting them in their place because Primus knows that Optimus would never be so harsh with them.

“They better be glad that it wasn’t me that heard them say that.”

     Ratchet smiled to himself as Ironhide got up to leave the room, knowing all too well what would have happened if they had made an error that grievous.

     Hide and Sides had also begun to get quite attached to Natalie. It was hard enough to find humans that were willing to understand them-let alone be around them-but it was a completely different situation when some of their own kind had tortured and abused her so. They were surprised she didn’t hate them on the spot.

     They liked her spirit, and the fact that she was willing to give all of them a chance even after her trauma. She had a strength within her that all of them saw, even if she didn’t. It caused her to have many fans amongst the Autobots, which she of course had no way of recognizing. She just thought that they were being extra nice to her because she was able to carry their children, it never occurred to her that they admired her.

“She is a resilient one, I’ll give her that.”

 

“How are you doing today, little one?”

“Fine, thank you.”

     She was always surprised that the gruff Ironhide was so considerate towards her, so she decided to ask him why. That was a mistake.

“Well why not?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that it would offend you… it’s just surprising that you’d care… at all.”

“My female charge also has a child, and one in her womb as well. I always make it a point to make sure that she is comfortable and well cared for, so I just assumed to treat you the same way.”

“Oh…” Well now she felt just awful. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it- I’m just not used to people caring, is all.”

“Not used to people caring?”

“There was only one person that genuinely cared about me besides Jessica… but he’s not here now…” she had to pause for a moment. “I just didn’t think that anyone else would too.”

     He got down low so that she could look into his eyes,

“You should know that many of us _do_ care for you, Natalie Crest. We have not been keeping our feelings secret from you.” He chuckled, “Especially not Bumblebee!”

She laughed as well, “I seem to be the more mature of the both of us…”

“Bumblebee may be old in your earth years, but for an Autobot he is quite young. He is mentally… well only a couple of years younger than you, in fact.” He smiled at her, “You are quite precious to all of us, but especially to him.”

“Thank you, Hide. I really needed to hear that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -The beginning of this chapter is linked to the beginning of chapter 5, it’ll make sense later
> 
> -Yes, Bee does have a little crush on Natalie. I’m not going to pair either of the girls with any of the bots because of the trauma that they went through with the Decepticons. Realistically I don’t think that anyone that went through something like that would have any attraction to a Cybertronian besides kinship. I’m trying to stick to that ideal, even though now that I’ve started writing them together I do think that they’d be really cute... I think that maybe I’ll just write them together in the AU I’ve been thinking about writing so that they can be together but it won’t compromise THIS story.
> 
> -Whenever I make up stories in my head, I always imagine that Bee is nicknamed 'Honeybee' by female friends/girlfriends because he is just the sweetest, most adorable thing ever! (I might have to take the name of this chapter and put it as a chapter name for my other fic, it's too perfect xD)
> 
> -And I do think that Will and Sarah would have more babies, not sure on the amount though so I just added in one lol


	4. Cannot Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ratchet gets fed up with human protocols

_“It’s a different start to a relationship- it’s a different kind altogether. We saw each other at our absolute worsts, almost all the time. That’s not how people usually start talking. We know everything about each other, and it wasn’t even just because we were being friendly. We_ had _to know so that we could survive. Jess had to know so that she could make sure I was well taken care of- and we both had to know so that we could keep each other from… ‘leaving’… if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be here, because I never would have had the guts to tell them ‘hey, those foods can kill me’ if I was by myself. She stood up for me no matter what. She taught me to value myself even when everyone else around us didn’t. She taught me how to cope instead of giving up right away. If she wasn’t there then I would have probably lied to them about the food- I would have told them to give me things that would kill me.”_

_“It sounds like you both rely on each other a lot.”_

_“We used to joke that we would be the ideal couple if not for me being straight. It’s like we have the relationship of lovers, best friends, and siblings all rolled in to one- but with no romantic aspect.”_

_“Maybe, for now, you could try and make something for yourself? Try and live-”_

_She glared at her, “Don’t you_ dare _tell me that I relied too much on Jessica. Don’t you_ DARE _try and make me feel like I shouldn’t have, or that I shouldn’t now. I am_ alive _because of that woman.”_

_“I was merely pointing out-”_

_“_ I don’t care what you were pointing out _.” She interrupted._ “ _I don’t like how you’ve been trying to make me feel like I_ have _to be my own person all the time no matter what. Sometimes relying on someone else is_ exactly _what someone needs. And I don’t care if these are the hormones talking-_

_I want to see someone else.”_

 

     No matter what happened, no matter how anyone made her laugh or temporarily forget what happened, she would always go back to her room at the end of the day and cry herself to sleep. And that was only the beginning-

“I hadn’t realized that this didn’t happen when I was… _there_.”

“It makes sense if you think about it in the way of survival instincts.” Ratchet mused.

“What do you mean?”

     He turned away from his monitors to face her,

“While you were held captive, your body’s first priority was to survive, and keep you sane for as long as possible. Now that you have no immediate threats against your person, your body is finally letting go of all the pain you went through, and it comes out in a form that won’t physically injure you.”

“I feel like I’m going crazy.” She whispered.

“May I say something a little less than professional?”

“Yes.”

“I think that you and your friend are two of the most resilient beings that I have ever met; human or Autobot. You did not lose yourself, you did not let yourself succumb to their tortures or punishments. And you were incredibly brave to plan your escape.”

“I don’t feel like myself-”

“Just because something horrible happened to you does not mean that you are any less of a person, Natalie. And I will offer you one last little piece of advice, if I may.”

     She nodded.

“You do not need to come to terms with what happened to you in an immediate sense. Sometimes it is best to just let things be until the time is right.”

“Thank you, Ratchet.”

“I have something for you.” He paused so that she could wipe the tears from her eyes, “Here.”

     He handed her a tablet with a Cybertronian to English dictionary.

“I have noticed that you like to try and read the text on my screens, so I thought that maybe you would like to study it more. That is only the first third of our alphabet, it’s much larger than yours, but I thought-” he wouldn’t have noticed her crying if he hadn’t looked back at her face, “Are you alright?”

“This is just so incredibly sweet, and thoughtful, and… you have no idea what this means to me for you to give me this.” She reached her arms towards him in a ‘hug me’ gesture. The old bot wasn’t really used to showing physical affection, but for her he would make an exception.

“You are most welcome.” He said as he patted her back gently. “And thank you for allowing me this contact.”

She laughed, “Oh it’s nothing, you’re just…”

“Just?”

     She blushed,

“You remind me of my grandpa.”

 

“Grandpa Ratchet, I like it!”

“Now don’t get any fool ideas, Hound.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He teased. “Besides, she seems like a pretty smart femme, I’m sure that you don’t mind anyways.”

Ratchet smiled to himself, “She does have a certain charm about her. I do like it when someone expresses interest in gaining knowledge just for the sake of knowledge.” Hound laughed. “And she’s supposedly very good with coding and machines, I hear.”

“Is she now?” the mechanic rubbed his chin, “Might make a good apprentice…”

“Now you leave her alone, Hound.” He chided, “She might like doing things, but I have expressly told her not to strain herself. I don’t need you providing her with any unneeded stress.” He turned to leave the hangar, “And besides, if she were to apprentice to anybot, it would be _me_.”

 

“Are you enjoying your stay here, Natalie Crest?”

“I guess- I mean it’s better than what I got used to- I mean it’s nice here!” she face-palmed, “I’m sorry.”

“It is alright, I understand your uneasiness. I will more accurately restate my inquiry: is your stay here _tolerable_?”

“Yes, it is, thank you.”

     Optimus smiled down at her,

“And of that I am glad.” He decided to try and change the subject, “I hear that you will not allow the other Autobots to drive you around base.”

“I just don’t want to be a bother.” She lied. There was something about him that made her very uneasy. It wasn’t that he made her uncomfortable, because honestly he made her feel very much at peace, it was more the fact that he seemed to know whenever someone wasn’t being completely truthful. His skills were well honed, and that’s what worried her. “I also became a bit claustrophobic…”

     That seemed to satisfy him, at least enough to nod in understanding.

“Well our offers will still stand if you ever decide to change your mind.”

   She smiled at the thought of riding around in Optimus’ gigantic alt mode,

“Thank you, Optimus, I really appreciate that.”

“You’ve been saying thanks to many people today.”

“Yah, I guess I have.” She laughed, “Wait, how did you know that?”

“I overheard you speaking with Ratchet- I hope I wasn’t intruding, I was just walking past when you were speaking with him.”

“No, it’s alright. I should have expected that since the door is usually open in the med bay. It’s not like anything’s going on in there that everyone doesn’t know about already.”

 

 _“I do like them. I_ really _do, it’s just… so hard…”_

_“We don’t have to finish this today if you don’t want to.”_

_“No, I think I should since I finally have someone to talk to about this. It’s just so hard not to see them as one of_ them _. They’re all sort of physically similar, and they’re all the same height- it’s just hard for me to not want to run and hide whenever one of them reaches for me, or gets down to talk to me. Whenever they offer to drive me around I automatically think that they’re going to take me off and do something horrible to me. And I know that it’s stupid, and I know that they wouldn’t, but I just can’t shake these feelings.”_

_“It’s not stupid, Natalie. These feelings are perfectly natural considering what you’ve gone through. You’ve been through something traumatic- something that probably no one else has but one other person- and it’s going to take time to get through it, if at all. And I’m not trying to get you down, I just need you to know that there’s a process to this, and it’s going to take however long it’s going to take.”_

     Ratchet was almost finished watching the videos he was given of Natalie in her therapy sessions. He knew that he had rights to them since he was one of her main doctors, but he still felt like he was intruding on something that he shouldn’t be. Seeing something that private made him very uncomfortable, and he knew that he couldn’t talk to anyone else about it, which made it slightly worse.

“Slagging doctor-patient confidentiality.” He mumbled to himself.

     If he couldn’t tell the other bots about it then there was no way that he could convey how important her intimacy issues were, or how she had night terrors and trust issues. He knew that them knowing was so important to her recovery, but he couldn’t just ask her to tell them out-right because of the fact that she probably didn’t even know that he had access to these tapes. If she had then she probably wouldn’t have been willing to share her thoughts on them so willingly.

 _“I just feel so helpless,_ all the time _… and I’m scared- I’m so scared that I won’t be a good mother because of how the baby was conceived and who the father is.”_

_“You’re afraid of it being evil- the way that Jessica was?”_

_“No... I’m afraid that I won’t be able to love it… not even a little.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ratchet, he must have so many 'cannot unsee' moments just because he's the doctor
> 
> Natalie standing up to her therapist comes from a personal place. If you don't like the way a doctor is treating you, you are not obligated to keep seeing them. You are allowed to find someone who makes a better fit, and if they're treating you like your opinions don't matter then you definitely shouldn't see them anymore.
> 
> This version of Hound is ok with humans since this story isn't going to have anything to do with the plot of the past movie (omg ew), I just liked some of the characters. He likes the smart ones, but the ones that treat him like scrap can kiss his aft.


	5. Tokens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now the beginning of chapter 3 makes sense!

_“We would all understand if you chose to terminate the hatchling.” Optimus finally said. Ratchet nodded in agreement._

_“It’s already so far along, would it really even matter?”_

_She rubbed her belly absent mindedly. She never got a hint- not even the smallest inkling- that her baby would be evil the way that Jessica had._

_“You are wondering whether or not its behavior is dependent upon the partner that was forced on you?”_

_“How do you-”_

_He smiled softly at her, “All Cybertronians have a choice, whether it be for the greater good or the greatest evil. When your child is born you can only do the best that you can. Only later in its life will it know what it wants to be. If you raise it with love and acceptance, it will not falter from the better path.”_

_“And you’re sure of that?”_

_“I am.”_

_“And… you won’t let anyone take it away from me, will you?”_

_He hesitated for a moment,_

_“I promise you that we will do our best to convince N.E.S.T. that it would be in all of our best interests to have you present in the upbringing of the new Sparkling.”_

_“And… and you’ll all help me, right?”_

_He smiled warmly at her, “Always.”_

 

“You mean you can read this?”

“Yah.”

     They all looked at her with awe,

“I mean we spent like two years with them, you couldn’t have expected us to not pick up at least a little something!”

“But you _can_ read this?”

“YES I CAN FREAKING READ IT!” she finally snapped. “I’m not some stupid thing that can’t do anything besides make babies!” she looked up long enough to notice how taken aback they were at her sudden anger, “Look I’m sorry, okay? But I mean how do you think we even got out of that place? They certainly didn’t have anything written in English!”

“We did not intend to show any disrespect, Natalie.” Optimus replied calmly, “It just comes as a great shock that you can read our language since some of our younger compatriots cannot.”

“Why can’t they? Weren’t they born there?”

“Our younger members had to prepare for war before their education was completed. Many of them never even got a chance to begin their training because they were ripped from their homes.”

     Optimus was looking straight at her, but his eyes seemed to be in another place. She noticed that that happened often when he talked about the world that he remembered, the world that used to be.

“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO TELL US!?” Ironhide snapped.

“It was in the confines of the medical hangar! You all know that nothing leaves that space when it is not expressly said so. Besides, I did not think that she would want all of you hounding her about her being able to read Cybertronian.” He pointed at the twins, “Especially not you two, since you haven’t even tried to educate yourselves since you’ve gotten here.”

“We’ve been kinda busy fightin’ Cons.”

“In case you haven’t noticed!”

“That is no excuse for your illiteracy! I have told you many times to stop asking the rest of us to translate texts for you.”

     They were about to utter some profane rebuttal until they noticed the rest of the bots looking at them annoyedly. They looked to their leader for some sort of reinforcement, but all he could do was sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose in silent agony.

“Ratchet is right. You need to take this task upon yourselves instead of relying on others to do your work for you.”

 

     At first Mudflap and Skids were angry with the little femme for one-upping their ‘bot-ness’. Then they tried to get her to help them with bribes, which were utterly ridiculous. As if she needed hood ornaments or window cleaner.

     Then, eventually, she gave in to her mothering side and began to help teach them the basics. If she couldn’t make them go away by ignoring them then she would make them go away with study sessions. For a long while the only reason they came to her was because of their needs, but then they found themselves actually enjoying her company. She was surprisingly feisty, and she laughed at all their stupid jokes, which they absolutely adored about her. They began bringing her back little gifts from whatever country they were sent to on missions, much to the chagrin of a certain yellow Camaro. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t think of that before those idiots had. She kept telling him how much she loved her little lizard, but he still felt like he could do better for her.

“Oh wow!” his eyes glowed brightly as she smiled up at him, “It’s so beautiful! Thank you so much, Bee!”

“Man, why you gotta do us like that?”

“Yah, you stole our idea!”

“Gift giving… is not one’s sole… idea.” He glared back.

     She tied the black sash around her waist after putting on the pink and green Yukata. The material was very breathable, something she deeply appreciated since being pregnant made her temperature skyrocket.

“Aye, we got you something too!”

     She laughed when Skids leaned down and handed her some Japanese ice cream.

“Thanks you guys! I always wanted to try some of their desserts, Jessica said that they were really delicious. I wish she was here to enjoy these with me…”

“We’ll go back and get her some when she wakes up, don’t worry boo.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of a nod to the second movie ;D


	6. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus lends an ear to Natalie in hopes that she might rekindle old relationships

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I promised her that I would do everything in my power to make sure that he stays in one piece.”

“But can you be sure that he won’t betray us?”

“He has already betrayed our enemies- at least he says he did. All of his confessions coincide with the information we have from the raid and Natalie, including my previous drug analysis.”

“Ratchet, I’m asking you if you’re one-hundred percent certain that he won’t try and go ham on all our asses.”

“I am… a little over eighty-seven percent sure…”

Lennox sighed, “So you’re not.”

“No, but I can tell you one thing: If Optimus trusts him, then so do I.”

 

     The entire time she’d been back, Natalie had been holding off calling her family. Her father had always been very distant with her, as if he were afraid to get close to anyone. God knows why, considering he seemed to have had a model childhood.

“My mother, on the other hand, couldn’t really be fucked to care about _anything_ that I did.”

“So you will not call them for fear of them somehow rejecting you?” Optimus offered.

“Well sort of… it’s more me not wanting to feel the way that I always feel around them whenever I have to talk to them.”

“You dread having more negative experiences with them?”

“Yes. And also getting that cold empty feeling that I always get around them.”

“Even though you seem to have had turbulent relationships with them, I am sure that they are worried about you and are wondering where you have gone off to all this time. Have you not had any contact with them at all before you were taken?”

“Not really. I called them to wish them a happy new year.”

“That would mean that you had only spoken to once in the five months prior to your abduction.”

“Pretty much.”

     He rumbled thoughtfully as he tried to form a proper response. She had very quickly grown to love that sound. It reminded her of waves crashing in the ocean, very calming and peaceful.

“You don’t have to come up with an answer, Optimus. I really just needed someone to talk to about this that wouldn’t video tape it or try and solve all of my problems for me.”

     He smiled softly and nodded in agreement. He was impressed with how much she had grown since she had gotten here. When they first met, she was akin to one of earth’s most notably skittish creatures. ‘A scared rabbit’ is what Epps had called her, but now she was more of a graceful deer; still prone to shocks, but also ready to fight back without hesitation.

“Well then I will expect a full report from you once you have come to a decision.”

 

“I can uplink myself to your database if you wish.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Or wanted.” Ironhide interjected. “We don’t need any slagging Decepticon viruses running rampant through our databases.”

Optimus sighed, “Ironhide, please.”

“I understand your mistrust, but I honestly have nothing to hide. You’ve already got the coordinates to one of their back-up bases, I assume you’ve sent your scouts there to check it out already.”

“We have.”

“And?”

“Your information seems to be accurate.”

“But what about the _other_ back-up bases?”

“I only had access to a certain amount of knowledge, just as I’m sure you do.” He glared.

“Megatron didn’t trust you enough to tell you all of them, eh?”

“Megatron didn’t trust _anybody_ enough to tell them all of them- not even Starscream. Though there are legitimate reasons for that, as I’m sure you already know.”

“Not even Soundwave?”

“Now that you mention it, Soundwave is probably the only one.”

“Get your story straight, Con!”

“Well it would be straighter if you slagging Autobots hadn’t pummeled my helm so severely!”

“Alright, that’s enough you two. Ironhide, wait outside please, I need to speak to him alone.”

“Fine.”

“So as I was saying, I have no fragging idea about where Megatron is or if he has any other laboratories set up. I don’t think he would, considering those are the only two femmes that we found that were acceptable… how are they?”

“You are worried about them?”

“Well I wouldn’t say ‘worried’… more like concerned… or disquieted.”

 

_“Dad? Yes this is really me. No, I’m alright now mostly. Oh hi, Mom. Where’ve I been?... Do you have a comfy place to sit?”_

“ _Natalie_ … I have something to show you… but you need to wear this-”

“A blindfold is never a good sign. What are you up to, Bee…”

“Just trust me.”

     Natalie heard the familiar ‘whoosh’ of automatic doors, followed by the very distinct smell of disinfectant.

“Are we in the med bay?”

     She reached her hands out so that she wouldn’t bump into anything after Bumblebee had told her to just walk straight ahead. She scooted along slowly until she knocked gently against some sort of railing, clasping her fingers around it to make sure she didn’t do it again. Suddenly the mask was pulled off from the front and her eyes shot open.

“Hey, Nat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every single time I write Optimus into a chapter my brain automatically goes PAPA PRIME IS BEST PRIME. Hopefully I can keep him true to his character while still showing him to be what I think he is.
> 
> I also feel like i haven't really given you guys a background on my characters, so I decided to start.


	7. The Strangest of Triangles

     After much crying and hysterical laughing, Natalie finally got herself together enough to jump into the bed that was so familiar to her.

“The blindfold was my idea, did’ja like it?”

“I didn’t think you’d ever wake up!”

Jessica laughed, “C’mon babe, you know I would never leave you alone when you have to deal with _that_.” Jessica nodded towards Natalie’s stomach. “Too much shit to be done!”

“I was so afraid that you wouldn’t be able to hold my hand when I gave birth. I thought you wouldn’t even get to see it.”

Jessica crinkled her nose, “You’re still into the idea, aren’t you?” she said in partial disgust.

“Well I mean… I’m not sure.” She sighed, “I guess I’m more used to the idea, I’m just not used to the idea of it being _me_.”

“I should have guessed as much considering you didn’t get rid of it as soon as you had the chance.”

“How do you know about that?”

“About what?”

“Oh… well they offered, but I refused.”

“WOW… well that was nice of them.”

“I don’t think they were offering out of nice-ness, Jess. They’re just as scared as we are.”

     They both laid curled around each other in relative silence until Natalie spoke up again,

“How are you able to talk when you’ve have a tube down your throat for months?”

“Well I kinda… woke up… a couple weeks ago?”

“YOU WHAT?!”

“I wanted to be able to talk to you properly! I also knew that you’d be stressing all over me if I couldn’t take care of myself, and honestly I didn’t want that for either of us.”

“I hate you.” she groaned.

     Jessica poked Natalie’s arm playfully,

“Because I’m right, just like always.”

     Bumblebee and Ratchet watched their exchange through the glass roof on Jessica’s room. It was installed so that he could monitor her more easily, but Ratchet found that this little peak into their relationship was a very good bonus.

“We’ve been compromised!” Natalie yelled in feigned panic.

     Bee threw his hands up in fake shock while Ratchet chuckled. He hypothesized that this was now going to be a more complicated relationship for all of them considering just how protective Bumblebee was of Natalie, and from what he’d heard about her, Jessica was exactly the same way. Bumblebee would no doubt become jealous of Natalie’s fake sister, even simply for the fact that they could hold each other comfortably and he couldn’t do the same.

“You have been consigned to the same quarters, once Jessica is well enough to leave the medical bay.”

   His suspicions were confirmed after hearing a small whirr of sadness come from the scout. Ratchet reached over and patted his shoulder to try and comfort him, but it only drove the point home even more that Natalie was no longer ‘his’. Hopefully they would all eventually become the best of friends, but for now they could only test the waters.

     A couple of weeks passed, and Jessica was cleared to leave her room. She would still need to use a wheelchair, but she didn’t care since she would now be able to move freely.

“They couldn’t even spring for an electric one? I mean we’re walking around in one of the most high tech and well-funded places on earth, with giant metal aliens, and they couldn’t even give me an electric wheelchair?”

     Sideswipe and Ironhide burst out laughing at her criticism. All this time they had been complaining about how low tech this planet was, and here was one of its own residents doing the exact same thing.

“AYE! Stop laughing!” she giggled, “This is serious business!”

“Just think of it as a way to build up your muscles again.” Natalie responded without even looking up from her book, “You always said you had the best arms before the Cons wouldn’t let you work out.”

“But I mean even I need some rest.”

“Yes… after being asleep for four months.”

“Now I know you didn’t!”

     She tried to swipe at Natalie, but all her friend had to do was lean away slightly to get out of her reach. She smiled to herself while still not looking away from her pages. Eventually Jessica gave up, which was when Natalie decided to move her chair closer to her so that they could hold hands. This is what she had missed, what she had so craved all this time. Now that she had it back she would never let it go.

   The two mechs smiled broadly, knowing that Natalie’s overall state would be much improved now that her sister was back. Sideswipe looked over at Bumblebee, who was sulking in the corner of the hangar.

 _“C’mon, dude.”_ He commed over a private channel, _“You know that she loves you too much to replace you. She’s just getting back into the groove of being with her other best friend.”_

     A very loud sigh was heard from Bee’s end, so he figured he’d just drop it until his friend was ready to talk.

 

“So you still haven’t met four of the bots?”

“No, apparently I’ve only been cleared to see the ones that rescued us- and the twins since they were in the hangar when I arrived. They were just there at the right time I guess.”

“Do you know their names?”

“Hound, Crosshairs, Drift, and Wheelie.”

“They do have some weird names don’t they.”

“Haha, yah. They think the same thing about us, you know.”

“Pfft. I mean who names their kid ‘Hound’ anyways? So where have they been this whole time?”

“They’ve been here, but like, out of sight? I mean you would clearly be able to tell if a car was a bot since basically all of them have their insignia as their hood ornament or on their steering wheel or something, so I guess there’s a part of the base I haven’t been to yet. My guess is that it’s the elevator with the extra button that has no number on it.”

“Underground, typical.”

“Apparently Wheelie turns into a toy car, so he could have been around and I would just not have noticed him.”

“Damn, that small?! I thought Laserbeak was the smallest that they could get!”

“Apparently not. Bee told me that there was another one even smaller than that.”

“Did he tell you all of this info?”

“Basically, I mean Sides told me some, but with Bee you don’t really have to prod for information.”

“He’s got a crush on you, you know.”

“Yah, I know.” They both laughed, “He is pretty adorable. He’d be prime boyfriend material if I didn’t completely abhor the idea of having a romantic relationship with one of them.”

“Yah the Decepticons really fucked that up for us.”

“…”

“What?”

“You’d date Hide, wouldn’t you?”

“Dude, I would climb that like a telephone poll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I previously stated, my girls have absolutely no interest in dating a bot, simply based on what happened. They would not be able to get over their fears enough to attempt a relationship, or even be attracted to them in that way.
> 
> (But they can still appreciate how attractive they are, even if it’s just platonic.)
> 
> And they are in no way making fun of Bumblebee, they’re sort of just laughing from the awkwardness of it all.
> 
> And as for Jessica/Hide- he likes everything about her and finds her very attractive for a human, but he’s not in to her like that (at least not in this fic ;D)


	8. An Old Acquaintance

“Big Daddy Optimus wants to talk to you in the other hangar.”

“Can you not call him that please? It makes him sound like some sort of pimp.”

“Heh.”

“I mean it, Jess.”

“Fine fine… just Daddy Optimus then.” Natalie threw her an annoyed look, “Look man, if you’re going to make me take the big out of it- which is completely reasonable considering his size- then I’m going to keep the rest. Also he reminds me a lot of my dad so I’m going to call him that.”

“Call me what?”

     Optimus’ large shadow came over them in an instant. Suddenly Jessica realized that maybe the name would be a bit too embarrassing for her to say to his face.

“Yah, Jess, call him what?”

“You better wipe that smug little grin off your face.” She whispered angrily before turning to Optimus. “I made up a nickname for you but now I don’t wanna say it…” he rose his brow, “It’s not bad or anything, I just don’t wanna say it anymore…”

     She rolled herself out of there as fast as she could to avoid any more of his looks. Luckily for Optimus, he had walked around the corner right after hearing what the small femme had called him. He would never admit it, but he liked the idea. He never had any children of his own, and he probably never would, but the way all of them treated each other touched his spark in a way that he never thought possible. He was truly starting to think of them as his Sparklings, no matter how different they were from him.

 

     Jessica was still really taken aback with how much more sassy and outspoken Natalie had gotten since the first time they met. The bots had really brought her out of her shell, and it was throwing her off. She missed her sweet, quiet little Natalie. This new ‘I’m here bitches’ Natalie was too much for her, especially after not seeing her for so long. Her secret wish was that it was just the hormones would come true later, but for now she would have to deal with not being the only alpha anymore.

 

“You wanted to speak to me?”

“Yah, I called my parents like you thought I should.”

“And?”

     He was trying so hard to hide his anticipation, it took everything within her power not to laugh,

“Well they only cleared me to talk to them if I agreed not to tell them anything about any of you guys, so I had to sort of fabricate a lot of it.”

“You lied to your parents?”

“No, I mean not really. I had to pretend that everything that happened happened with humans, and I left the part out about the experimentation. I told them about… the other things though… but I didn’t tell them about the baby. There would be no way to fake that if they ever wanted to see it.”

“And what was their reaction?”

“They were mortified. I’ve never heard my parents cry before- at least not right in front of me. I felt so bad.”

“You have nothing to feel bad about, Natalie. You were as honest as you could be, and them having that reaction was not your fault.”

“I know, but I felt just awful… they even offered to fly out and see me. I told them that that would be ok, but honestly I don’t know what to do. I want to see them, _but I also don’t want to see them_ , you know?” he nodded thoughtfully, “What do you think I should do?”

“I think you should evaluate your priorities. If your seeing them is a top priority, then I would suggest that you do so. But otherwise, with all that has been going on, I would not.” She sighed, “Natalie, you have shown yourself to be extremely capable- in all aspects. And while I am flattered that you seem to hold me and my opinions in such high regard, I would like for you to know that you do not always need to rely on me. I have no doubt whatsoever that you can make good decisions by yourself, without my help.”

     She smiled up at him and then did her very familiar ‘hug me’ gesture. All of the bots had grown quite accustomed to leaning all the way down so that she could cling to their faces. She imagined that if she had to hug Tinkerbell it would have felt the same way for her, but she didn’t really care how awkward it might have been for them. She figured that if they didn’t like it too then they wouldn’t go along with it, and they had for quite some time now. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d ever be able to bring herself to hug a bot, let alone think of them as family.

     The next few days were relatively calm now that the Decepticons were scattered and no longer attacking randomly. Now that their leader was gone, they all went into hiding for fear for their lives.

“They’re probably more afraid of Megatron’s wrath, of them messing up in some way, than you finding them. I know I would be.”

“Even if we killed you?”

“My death would come swiftly at the hands of an Autobot. Not so with Megatron.”

 

“We’ve been putting this off for a long time… we were unsure of the consequences, but now it seems like an ok thing to do.”

“Sides?”

     He turned and silently commed someone. The girls hated it when the bots did that, it was just another way for them to be left out of the loop.

“Sides-”

     And that’s when they saw him.

     He was quite battered; his paint was scratched and one of his headlights was broken, but it was definitely still him.

“Hello, ladies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> When I say alpha for Jessica, I mean like personality wise, not in a ‘I’m in charge’ kind of way.
> 
> Honestly, Optimus would be the first person I would go to for advice or if I needed to feel safe in some way. He’s got so much experience and he seems like he’d have a very calming presence, I would probably just cling to him all the time. He would probably get annoyed when he’d have to pry me off before every mission, but that’s a risk I’d be willing to take
> 
> In the stories I make up in my head one of my OC's calls Optimus 'Big Daddy Optimus' and I've wanted to use it in a story for so long. It's one of those things in my head that will never get written down and contains multiple fandoms. I basically just use it for ideas or to fall asleep xD She's a lot like Jessica, but more abrasive


	9. A Shot at Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knockout is given a chance to prove himself to the Autobots

“What. The. FUCK.”

“WAS HE UNDERGROUND!?” Natalie turned to Knockout, “HAVE YOU BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME?!”

“You have been here just a little longer than I have. They found me a week after they invaded base. It’s uh…” he looked over his shoulder at the Autobot who brought him in, not wanting him to know just how much he cared for his little fleshies. “I am glad to know that you are both in good health.” He nodded to Jessica’s chair, “Or at least, mostly.”

     They had never seen him so awkward. Their once proud Decepticon doctor now turned into some shy little boy by the presence of his old enemy. None of them really knew what else to say, but they both reached out so that they could grasp the end of his first digit. Sideswipe looked on confusedly at their exchange, wondering how they could possibly still harbor feelings for a _Decepticon_.

“Alright,” he interjected, “that’s enough. We still have to get you acclimated to your new surroundings, and Optimus wants to speak with you.”

“Oh… that’s fine.”

     He got up slowly, secretly scanning his patients. He knew he would never get his lab back, but he was going to be damned if all of his hard work would be taken away too. These femmes were his responsibility, and they would stay that way.

 

“How can you still hold that monster close to your sparks?” Sides said in shocked repulsion.

“He was the only one to realize that what they were doing was wrong. And he was the only one to help us when we asked.”

“If it weren’t for him then we wouldn’t be here.”

“Yes you would, because you are both smart and strong. You would have been able to make it out.”

“No, we wouldn’t have. The drugs they gave us didn’t let us move, let alone think. They would have squashed us if he hadn’t stopped giving them to us.”

     Sideswipe contemplated what his friends had told him, but he still had his doubts. He excused himself to the med bay,

“He scanned them as he was leaving.”

“He did what!”

“He’s very discreet, I wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t have the same look in his optics that you do when you do it.”

     Ratchet grumbled.

“I think he’s worried about them.”

“Knockout? _Worried?_ ” Ratchet had to stop himself from losing it, “I have known Knockout since before the war, and all that bot ever worried about was his paintjob and his status. I highly doubt that he could ever care for another individual.”

“Well he seemed worried to me. He was also very gentle with them.”

“You let him touch them?!”

“They reached out to him and he did the same. It was just the tip if his finger, anyway.”

“I’m surprised you’re taking this so lightly.”

“Should I hold onto my anger and ruin my day, like you’re doing?”

“…”

“He obviously took very good care of them, I highly doubt he would hurt them now- especially now that they’re on our turf.”

“You are right…” he paused for a moment, “I’m more worried about him trying to sabotage _us_. He might be vain, but he is very resourceful.”

“Was that a compliment?”

“As close to one as he will ever get.”

 

“I am glad that your first meeting with the females went well.”

“As am I.”

“I need to make something very clear to you, Knockout. You will no longer see to their physical care. Ratchet has everything covered with Jessica and Natalie, and I am still not sure if I am ready to give you any responsibilities concerning them.”

“I understand.” He sighed out.

“But… we would very much appreciate your expertise when it concerns the repairs of _Autobots_.”

“You would trust ME to attend to your troupe?”

“If you are up to the task. I know you hold a high regard for your work, and I would expect the same level of care that you would have given when Megatron asked for it.”

     Knockout almost cringed, a knot beginning to form in his abdomen. He knew he should have felt utterly disgusting by being forced to care for his old enemies, but the truth of the matter was that the knot was not for them- it was for Megatron. He was well aware of the fact that if his master ever found out about his treachery he would be tortured and then offlined. He knew what became of traitors in Decepticon history; only a small footnote in the files would he become, all of his achievements would be written out of history, and only his failures would remain.

“I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> Sideswipe being the logical one… well that’s rare  
> I always kind of figured that Sides was a more ‘go with the flow’ type of guy. I think that he would try to not hold into anger so easily and just get on with his life. He also knows that if he didn’t he might ‘accidentally’ do something bad to KO


	10. The Seed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica finds out just why she and Natalie were chosen by the Decepticons

“Optimus! Wait up!”

     Optimus patiently waited as Jessica brought herself over to him. He found out very early on, and in a most ferocious way, that she didn’t want to be treated like she has a temporary handicap. All of the bots were forced to stand and wait while she caught up to them, not understanding why they couldn’t just go over to her instead.

“Can I help you with something, Jessica?”

“Yes, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something for a while now… can we go someplace more private?”

     He guided her to an empty hangar and lowered the doors in either end of the shelter.

“I need to know: how is this even possible in the first place? I mean we’re nowhere near biologically the same, except for the fact that we have some physical similarities-”

“Jessica, I need you to start from the beginning.”

She took a deep breathe, “How was it that Natalie and I can have robo-babies when nobody else can?”

     She said it in a way that made her entire question wound like a single word, it took him aback and made him realize just how anxious this thought made her, how much it had been weighing on her without anyone else knowing. He paused for a moment, not knowing whether or not he should be completely honest with her about this. She had already been through so much, and even though it could turn her entire world upside-down, she deserved to know the truth. He silently commed Ratchet so that he would be able to give her a more detailed response.

     She objected at first to him being there since she wanted to speak with Optimus alone, but after he insisted that Ratchet stay she stopped.

“There was something that took place on Earth many eons ago. It forever changed the biology of your developing planet. This was the catalyst that helped create your race, and every other living species. It was caused by a species much older than our own…”

     Jessica waited patiently for Optimus, not wanting to force the information if he didn’t want it to be said. Something about this conversation was making him very uneasy, and she didn’t want to push him if she didn’t have to.

“We have only found out recently that these events, and the ones that created Cybertron, were interconnected.”

“Wait… so you’re saying, that _aliens_ helped make the human race?”

“And Cybertronians. We still do not know who could have set off-”

“What Optimus is trying to say,” Ratchet interjected, “is that the same thing that created both of our species’ has made it possible for us to create a new life between the two. Yet we still do not know why you and Natalie are the only ones that are able to mate with us. We can only guess that you two are the only ones left with some of the same DNA coding that was originally set in to place- the only ones left of breeding age, I mean.”

“That’s what those abnormalities on the scans are, aren’t they?”

“It is what we are assuming, yes.”

     Once Jessica hobbled out of the hangar, Ratchet lowered the large door so that he and Optimus could have some privacy,

“Optimus, may I offer some advice?”

“Of course, old friend.”

“The humans need not know all of their planetary history. Their religions and philosophies are centered around different ideals than our own, if we disrupt them, we could bring more chaos than enlightenment. I think it best to keep that intel to ourselves for the time being- just until they are advanced enough to not tear themselves apart with it.”

Optimus hummed in his throat, “What you ask would take many millennia… but I do agree that given what we have been witness to on this planet, it might be our best course of action in the long run.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> This is something that i had written out for a while now and now it's finally time to put it here!
> 
> I originally pictured this conversation happening with Jessica on Optimus' shoulder, looking off into a sunset together.  
> But then I almost killed her, so that obviously can't happen.
> 
> Jessica is now in crutches, it's been a few weeks. She's doing physical therapy so she's mostly ok. This event doesn't have an exact time in the story, it just happens in between everything else.


	11. Inner Turmoils

“And just where are you going?”

“I’m taking a walk. I’m tired of being cooped up in all these metal rooms, it’s starting to drive me crazy.”

“Yah… they’re kind of like a brighter version of the Decepticon base, aren’t they?”

“Yes… I wish that they didn’t have so much in common.”

     Natalie knew that Jessica was referring to how the Autobots and Decepticons shared almost the same history, but the way she said it made some of the humans in the room wince. They wouldn’t know, they never would.

     Their hands felt almost the same.

     Their eyes still glowed, even if they were blue instead of red.

     Their voices still held a slight metallic twinge.

     And they were still big and loud and overbearing, even when they were being quiet.

     None of them would ever understand how their similarities would sometimes keep the girls awake for days… Afraid of being snatched up in the night while the base was still asleep.

     The fear of even _falling_ asleep.

     The fear of once again being prisoners.

     And the fear of the Autobots getting tired of their presence, forced back to their lives where they could easily be taken again… Megatron taking all of the proper precautions so that they would never be heard from again.

   _Because he didn’t make the same mistakes twice._

    

“What’s up, Doc?”

     Knockout’s mouth curved up into a slight smile,

“I do so enjoy someone around here acknowledging what I am, instead of being a doctor’s _assistant_.” He replied in an almost bitter manner. “What can I do for you today, Jessica?” he offered her his palm in reflex and put her up onto his table. She noticed that it was uncharacteristically messy; parts strewn all over it and almost none of them fully cleaned. “Yes, yes, I know that it’s not exactly up to par- but this is the best that I can do right now with the Autobots calling me all the time.” He sighed, “I swear, they run me more ragged than Megatron ever did.”

She hid her cringe, “Ragged? _You_? Honestly, Doc, I don’t see it.”

“You always were the little charmer.” She was glad that she could still get his eyes to sparkle in that mischievous way of his. “I’m not supposed to help you with your medical issues, you know.”

“I know.” He rose a brow at her, “I guess I just wanted to ask you… to make sure that what you told Megatron about me was accurate.”

“You’ll have to be more specific, my little brownie. I told Megatron a great deal about you.”

“The part where you said that I would never be able to give birth again.”

     He couldn’t stand the way her voice began to slowly drop for the duration of her last sentence, how she seemed to lose a small bit of her spark at the words.

“No,” he shook his large head, “I meant that you wouldn’t be able to conceive a _Sparkling_. I think that with time, you should be able to bare _human_ children.”

     A small smile twitched on Jessica’s lips. The thought of her having a choice on whether or not she could have her own child made her happier than what she had previously thought it would. She still didn’t see herself having any children, but it was nice to be able to know that she could if she wanted to.

“At least they didn’t completely ruin me.”

“Ruin you? _Ruin_ YOU?”

She laughed, “Thanks, Doc, I really needed that.” He smiled down at her. “I didn’t mean it like there’s something wrong with a woman that can’t have kids. I just meant it like… well I guess I’m thinking of it like it’s something that they couldn’t take away from me, even though they took away everything else. You know what I mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I will support whatever that was nonetheless.”

“Man did I miss your flamboyancy.”

“Well I did not miss your sass, if that is what you are getting at. Even though I was locked up, it was nice and quiet in that little dungeon that they call a holding cell.” He lifted her up and placed her gently on the floor, “I will expect the same level of noise from now on, if you don’t mind.”

     She smiled broadly as he turned to walk away, not allowing her to see the grin that was plastered on his faceplate. He really did miss his little ladies, but he didn’t need them knowing that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> I really wanted to convey just how much the girls got messed up by all this, but I highly doubt that they would ever actually discuss any of that out loud because of the constant fear of the base being bugged, so I wrote it differently.


	12. Heartaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalie finally reveals some information about her past

_“Would you like to finally tell me a bit about your upbringing, Natalie?”_

_She sighed, “I supposed I should, but I don’t really want to want to…” her therapist looked at her expectantly, “My home life… was pretty emotionally neglectful. A non-specific example would be like when my dad would show up for school plays but not really show any emotion about me being up on stage, and my mom wouldn't show up at all… or even acknowledge the fact that I was going to be in a play in the first place. I pretty much grew up doing my own thing without any encouragement from my parents in any way.” She paused so that she could slow her breathing._

_“You don’t have to tell me all at once, just say what you want to say.”_

_“If I stop now then I’ll never bring any of this up again so I might as well keep going.”_

_“Alright.”_

_“My grandfather was my rock; the only person that I would really tell anything to. And he was so proud of me. He was so proud of everything that I did. He would show up, help me study, make me believe that I was smart enough to do things. When I got my first job he was the first person I told. He’s the reason I was able to help get us out of there. Without him I wouldn’t have thought that I would have even had the slightest chance to help myself. He’s the only person that ever really mattered to me before Jessica came along- and then the Autobots. He was the only family that_ acted _like family.”_

_“He sounds like an incredible person.”_

_“He was…” she paused. “I see a lot of him in Optimus and Ratchet, I think that’s why I get along with them so well, and trust them so much… because they’re just as wonderful as he was. I wish that they could have met him, they would have been such great friends.”_

_“I’m sure they would have been.”_

_“Optimus is really the only reason I called my parents after… after what happened. I didn’t want to deal with them, I didn’t think that they would care.”_

_“But they did, didn’t they?” Natalie nodded, “Sometimes people care about other but they just don’t know how to show it, or they don’t fully realize what those feelings are. I’m not saying that what your parents did- or what they DIDN’T do- wasn’t horrible, but I’m glad that you now know that they care about you. Even if it’s not the way that you would like.”_

_“I don’t really know how I feel about what they did when I called them. I learned to numb myself from them when I was pretty young, now I just don’t really seem to feel anything at all towards them besides anger and disappointment. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”_

_“Nobody’s asking you to get over it, Natalie. We’re just talking, I just want to get to know you better so that I can help you in the long run. If you ever decide to work on this, it’s going to take time. This isn’t going to just magically go away, you need to know that.”_

 

     Ratchet heaved a heavy sigh as he watched Natalie’s newest videos. She had told him that her parents weren’t easy to get along with, but he had no idea that she had undergone such emotional abuse prior to her abduction. He had no idea how to help her with this portion of her treatment. He was not a psychiatrist, he could only treat outward wounds, but he was glad that she had _someone_ to talk to about all of this.

   A very small part of him was a bit hurt that she had decided to withhold this information for a complete stranger rather than confiding in him, but then he realized that that was probably the point. Telling all of these incredibly deep thoughts to someone she already knew might make things worse because she would have to confront the fact that someone on base _who knew her personally_ would be walking around with her private information. _Extremely_ private information.

     After brushing off his initial feelings, he realized just how happy he was that she felt that way about him. She trusted and cared for him enough to compare him to her own grandfather, someone that she had made no secret of having a great respect and admiration for. The way she spoke of him conveyed such happiness… he was sad that his spark had been extinguished.

 

     Natalie spent the rest of the day in her room looking at some of the pictures she had taken with her grandfather. Her favorite one was the time he tried to take her fishing. She was eleven at the time, and he wanted to share that special place with her, but all she wanted to do was go swimming. He ended up tossing her overboard, and them jumping in after her while still wearing all of his gear. They spent the rest of the day intentionally scaring away the fish so save them from other people’s nets.

     She knew that there would be no one like her grandfather, but she was glad that she had a few select people that she felt she could rely on in the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> I feel like I haven't really given you guys a background on my characters, so I decided to start. Jessica's chapter will come after this one.


	13. I'm Not Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica speaks more openly than usual about personal subjects

_“Why don’t we just start with your parents.”_

_“How very stereotypical of you, doctor.” Jessica replied jokingly. “Well there’s not a lot that I can say. I had a pretty normal life besides the whole ‘giant robotic aliens’ thing. My parents are good people, they don’t really get my sexuality but they haven’t disowned me so that’s good I guess.”_

_“What do you mean they don’t get it?”_

_“Well, they don’t really understand why liking just one sex isn’t enough for me. It’s not that they’re against homosexuality, but they just don’t_ get _it.”_

_“And what is there to get, specifically?”_

_“That I don’t feel like I should have to choose one over the other. That I’m equally attracted to both. That I can see myself spending the rest of my life with a man OR a woman- though I don’t really see myself settling down any time soon. I’d rather have some fun than have to settle for just one person.”_

_“Settle?”_

_“I don’t really get what the big deal is if I want to sleep with more than one person, they don’t seem to get that either…”_

_“Have they openly criticized your sexual activities?”_

_“No, but they haven’t sung my praises either. They’re more into ‘traditional’ families, even though I keep telling them that lots of ancient and modern societies were into non-hetero relationships or not into monogamy. It really shouldn’t be a big deal. What I do with my body is nobody’s business but mine.”_

_“Have you ever talked to Natalie about any of this?”_

_“Ahahaha… she told you that people think we’re dating, didn’t she? I wouldn’t mind that rumor so much if it didn’t make HER so uncomfortable. She doesn’t like people talking about her.”_

_“But you don’t mind?”_

_“I do mind, I just choose to flip them off instead of sitting there quietly. I mean if we were girlfriends then we wouldn’t be hiding it from anyone in the first place so I don’t even know how these rumors keep going.”_

_“Have you ever thought about taking your relationship to the next level?”_

_“I’ve never even been in to her like that! I flirt when I’m in to someone, and nobody can say that I’ve ever flirted with her… I did think about it while we were locked up, but it wasn’t because I was sexually attracted to her. I mean Nat’s gorgeous and everything, but I just needed a physical outlet more than a partner. Once we got to know each other the way we do, those thoughts went straight out of my head. She’s my sister, nothing more.”_

_“It’s good to have such a close friend.”_

_“Yah.”_

_“Have you ever told her about any of this?”_

_“Yah, and she understood. She told me that if she was in to chicks then she’d go for it because she felt the same way- about needing someone. We never tried, and I never pushed her to because I knew that it just wasn’t her. We also stopped talking about it after… we didn’t want anyone touching us after a while.”_

_“Well getting back to your parents, have you contacted them since being here?”_

_“Yes, the first day I woke up I sent them a message. They said that they hadn’t ever stopped searching for me. They knew that I wasn’t dead because I wouldn’t have allowed myself to die, haha! I asked for them to get clearance to come here since we’re not allowed to leave but that still hasn’t gone through yet, I don’t know if it ever will. I really want Nat to meet them, they’d like each other a lot!”_

     Ratchet found himself smirking at Jessica’s newest tape. She almost always had more upbeat sessions, but he found this one to be particularly amusing. She went on to tell the therapist about ‘Big Daddy Optimus’ and he couldn’t contain his chuckling. He thought that maybe if he helped to push forward her petition then maybe it would go through more quickly, but since both of the girls had just been granted clearance to meet some of his other team members, he figured it best to not mention it until after their first meetings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> When Jessica says she left her parents a message, it was a text message. She still couldn't talk for a while after she woke up.


	14. Unhidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls finally meet the entire Autobot crew

     Optimus was hoping that introductions with the last of their troupe would go more smoothly since they were now used to how the bots behaved, but that was quickly dashed.

_“Wow.”_

_“I didn’t know robots could have beards.”_

_“Or be so tiny.”_

_“Or look Japanese.”_

_“Who’re you calling a robot, fleshy?”_

_“Who’re you calling a fleshy, robot?”_

_Hound leaned down to eye Jessica more closely,_

_“I wouldn’t try and piss off something bigger than you while you’re still attached to those extra limbs.”_

_“They’re called crutches, and I dare you to try something. Like really, just try it and see what happens.”_

_“HA! I like this one, Optimus. She’s got guts.”_

_“Well I think she’s disrespectful.”_

_“Aw c’mon, Drift!” Hound said as he clapped his friend on the back, “You can’t expect her to just fall in line. She’s not a solider.”_

_Meanwhile, Natalie couldn’t help but keep her gaze on the smallest Autobot on the team, Wheelie. She had never seen a Cybertronian who could fit into somebody’s suitcase. Even Soundwave’s minions were bigger than he was._

_“What are you lookin’ at?” he asked defensively._

_“Nothing, I was just thinking that you must be good for stealth missions.”_

_“Really?” he rose his brow at her, “Not ‘wow he’s so tiny’?”_

_“Well I mean you are tiny compared to the others, but it’s not like there’s something wrong with that.”_

_He was completely taken aback. Everyone else he came into contact with made fun of him or tried to dominate him because of his size- and here was a human, a human who was abused by his former boss no less, who didn’t seem to care much about his appearance._

_She just smiled at him and then turned her gaze towards the other three Autobots since he didn’t respond, but his reaction didn’t go unnoticed. She wondered why he would be so shocked by her, it couldn’t be the result of anything positive._

_“And you’re the one carrying the Sparkling, yes?”_

_“Uh, yah?”_

_Crosshairs got down in his fingertips to better view this female, ‘the one to carry on the species’ as so many others put it. Her comrade had gumption, and was much stronger looking than her. This one was a frail looking thing, not very big, not intimidating in the least. He was honestly surprised she survived Knockout’s experiments, even more so that she was able to facilitate and escape._

_“You must be very bright to have been able to escape from Megatron’s clutches.”_

_“I’d like to think so… I guess.” She was used to be stared at but this was starting to make her uncomfortable._

_“He must be just as cruel as ever…”_

_“He was. As was Starscream.”_

_“The flier still just as annoying too, huh?”_

_“If you call being a rapist annoying, then yes, he was.”_

_The whole room fell silent. It wasn’t until then that Crosshairs remembered that Starscream was one of the parents. His gaze flicked down to her enlarged stomach and then back up to her face. The ice-cold glare that the little femme was giving him could freeze one’s spark._

_“I meant no disrespect. I apologize for my insensitive comment.”_

_While Natalie was debating whether or not to accept his apology, the other Autobots couldn’t believe that he had just apologized openly- in front of_ everyone _. Natalie wouldn’t know the significance of such a gesture, but they all knew just how hard it must have been for him. She finally offered a curt nod, much to the relief of everyone present._

“And then she stormed off!”

“Well you can’t really blame her now can you? You called her main abuser ‘annoying’.”

“You’re defending her?”

“Look man, you haven’t been able to walk around here for a while so I’ll just break it down for you real simple: they’re basically part of the team now. They call us their _brothers_ \- they even call Optimus and Ratchet their dad and uncle. We’re family now, you can’t just talk scrap about them. None of us will take that lying down, ‘specially not Bee so you better not bring that up around him. Just trust me on that.”

“What happened to you, Mudflap? You used to not care either way about humans.”

“Man I still don’t… those two are an exception.”

“I can’t believe I’m getting reprimanded by one of the most inefficient bots here.”

“Hey don’t blame me ‘cause you’re bein’ a dipshit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> I've been waiting so long to get these bots here!  
> I really wanted to get the new dynamics in since the newest additions to the movie franchise are not like the ones I was used to (i.e. not as friendly and could be a lot colder than the others). Wheelie is the exception since he seems to have a thing for human females right from the get-go lol  
> Also notice how differently Mudflap is speaking and conducting himself. The twins have gotten a subtle-but major-upgrade in intelligence because of the work they've been doing with Natalie


	15. Accidental Carelessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crosshairs' demeanor gets in the way of his potential civility with Natalie

“Well we would all very much appreciate it if you would at least _try_ to talk to him.” She sighed haughtily at his request. “ _Natalie-_ ”

“FINE… _fine_. I’ll try, but I won’t promise anything.” She looked up at Ratchet and finally saw just how desperate he was. “Ugh…” she always felt so guilty when she saw him like this.

“And yes, we all know how insensitive Crosshairs can be. But he also hasn’t had as much time to deal with humans. He doesn’t know any better.”

“So you guys would just talk like that to each other?”

He rolled his optics to far back that Natalie thought that they would disappear,

“That’s not the point- please just be civil. He truly is sorry, you should realize that by now.”

“Well you wouldn’t know it from the way he’s been avoiding me!”

“Natalie… _why do you think he’s been avoiding you in the first place?_ ”

 

“Ok so Ratchet just talked to Natalie. You can come out of hiding now.”

“I’m NOT hiding.”

“Well you’re sure doing a good job of not-” Crosshairs glared down at Simmons. “Just go and be a decent person, ok? Chicks are already sensitive, and this one’s pregnant. Eggshells man, eggshells.”

“Ah, whatever.”

 

     Natalie was quietly reading some of her baby books in the main hangar as Ratchet suggested. He told her that Crosshairs had to come in at some point, so she should make herself ‘available’. She hoped that he wouldn’t think that she was trying to challenge him or something, that wouldn’t end well _at all_. She decided not to sit in the middle like she usually did with the other bots, but instead sat at the far end near where Bee’s space was. Even though the yellow bot wasn’t present, being near where he went into stasis was a bit comfort for Natalie. She felt the ground shake with footsteps, and lo and behold, there was Crosshairs. She looked up from her book as unassumingly as possible and caught him staring at her in a half-panicked way. She almost laughed, but she didn’t want to piss him off.

“Hi…”

“Hey…”

     She had no idea how to further their interaction. All she wanted to do was be in a semi-friendly relationship with him, even if it was just superficial. She felt like it’d just be better for it to be that way instead of them actively avoiding each other and making everyone else so tense about the whole thing.

     He began to turn away,

“So I-”

     He froze at her words, half turned away from her like he was going to bolt and never come back. Should she stop talking? Was she making it worse by NOT talking?

“Yah?” he finally replied.

“I heard that you can fly… sort of.”

“Well I can’t.” he said it a bit too abruptly, causing her to cringe slightly. “I mean, not really. I just glide.”

“That’s still pretty cool though.”

“I guess…” _The femme is so tiny, how am I supposed to interact with something so tiny?_

“So how do you ‘glide’ then?”

He lifted his ‘coat tails’ a bit, “I use these. It’s just a matter of finding the right angle to use it while airborne. That and my parachutes.”

“Oh.”

     _Why is she looking away from me? She’s doing that human thing where they rub their arm, why is she doing that? All I did was answer her question._

     Crosshairs was a cocky bot, nobody could ever say that he had low self-esteem. People would regularly tell him to calm down because the way he talked could be very off-putting, but he never understood _why_.

     Nobody thought to tell the girls this because it was common knowledge, so Natalie didn’t know that he wasn’t trying to make her feel stupid. She just sat there feeling like an idiot for asking obvious questions that she could have just asked anyone else on base without having to deal with him directly. She went back to that sad place, where she didn’t know how to stick up for herself or make herself heard. She felt more embarrassed than usual because he obviously thought that she was just some silly girl.

 

“Ratchet come quick! The female’s leaking!”

“What?!”

     They both ran back to the hangar. Natalie couldn’t disguise her soft sobs even though she had both hands over her mouth.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear! She just started leaking-”

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to…” he sighed, “Sometimes she just cries more than she normally would. She’s hormonal which means her emotions are more at the ready than they would be if she wasn’t. You can go now, Crosshairs.”

“Sure…”

     He lingered in the doorway to watch how Ratchet interacted with her. The medic got down on one knee and brushed a tear from her cheek before Natalie sprang up and clung to him, her little arms and hands making smudges in his finish. He couldn’t believe just how cautious the old bot was with her, like she was made of paper.

     But then again… she kind of was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> Sometimes I start writing funny things and then they turn on me.  
> Oops.
> 
> Poor Crosshairs has no idea how to act around humans who aren't army trained. They're too 'sensitive' for his tastes so he doesn't really care to interact with them on a regular basis. (while simultaneously being afraid of them because they're tiny breakable squishy things).  
> I also thought it'd be kind of adorable for CH to be the type to avoid someone after a fight since he has a major ego on him.
> 
> At first I wanted to have the first two parts of this story have an even amount of chapters but that's clearly not going to happen now since I realized that I have more relationship building with the bots who just showed up before I can move on to the next one x.x  
> So spoiler, there will be a part three to this xD it's gonna be much darker like the first one (but without the rape). Hopefully it'll turn out the way I want it to.


	16. The Sound of Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalie's mood swings are taking a turn for the worse

“I don’t know man… sometimes it’s really hard not to hate someone just because Nat does.”

“She doesn’t really… hate him though… does she?”

“I mean she’s never said it… she just really dislikes him.” Jessica sighed, “She’d rather just avoid him altogether now, there’s really no way around it at this point. I mean he was REALLY shitty to her the other day.”

“Sometimes… _Crosshairs_ doesn’t know how to speak… appropriately.”

“Then he should work on it! I can’t believe you guys let him just go around like that this whole time.”

“I’m not his keeper!”

“I know, Bee, I know… but you’re also kind of obligated, as a friend, to tell him if he’s fucking up.”

Bumblebee sighed. “I’m friendly with _Crosshairs_ , but I’m not friends with him… and I really don’t like… confronting him because of how… big his ego is. He’s not the easiest to get along with. Sometimes he even goes against… _Optimus_.”

“Jesus, seriously? Why do you guys even have him?”

“Because he’s a good… fighter. He’s just not an… altogether… good person.”

“Damn dude. I had no idea… sorry.”

“It’s ok. I’m just glad I get along well with… most of the others. And you guys.”

 

“And you’re sure you don’t want to know?”

Natalie giggled at Ratchet’s automatic request. She had told him from the beginning that she wanted the baby’s gender to be a surprise, but he always asked anyway.

“No thanks, Doc. I’ll find out soon enough anyways.”

“Ah… that is true… if the gestation period is indeed the same.” She rose her brow at him, “Which seems to be the case so far.”

     Ratchet was always grateful that Natalie never showed her more aggressive side to him. He had heard the others talk about how she would snap at them even if they ‘weren’t really doing anything’, which he always found quite suspect. Even if she was hormonal, she wasn’t just going to go at them for nothing. There were more cases with some people than others, and they were usually the ones causing trouble even while Natalie wasn’t there to scold them.

     Even if she didn’t go full-on aggressor with him, he still got some of the looks and short answers. He figured that she was either holding back or he just didn’t make her mad enough to do anything else, and that was good enough for him.

“Just a little while longer…”

 

“Hello, carrier.” Hound greeted.

“Can you please not call me that,” Natalie snapped back, “it’s… extremely unsettling.”

“Well where I came from, a carrier was a title that bots were happy to have!”

“Yes I know what it means- but the Decepticons used to call me that and it always made me feel like an animal.”

“Slagging Cons tainted it!” he replied more forcefully, “They always have to ruin everything!” he sighed, “So what _do_ I call you then?”

“You can just call me by my name… I guess? What’s up with you guys always making weird nicknames for us?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Decepticons didn’t usually call us by name, either. But the way they did it was purposefully degrading.”

Hound hummed in his throat.

“Cybertonians have always made up ‘nicknames’ for each other, but it sounds like the Decepticons twisted it so that they could belittle you instead of offering them up as comradery. No one on my home world would have thought to do that before the war.”

“Well they do now.” She huffed under her breath. “Well I’m gonna go and meet Bee for lunch, I’ll see you later, Hound.”

 

     Bumblebee was overly quiet around Natalie lately. She thought she was imaging it at first, but when he didn’t offer his usual opinions and advice on subjects she became suspicious.

“You’ve been very quiet lately, Bee… is there anything on your mind?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

     She decided to let Bumblebee carry the conversation, but that didn’t exactly work out since he decided to wait for _her_ side before carrying on. Natalie didn’t know that Bee had been taking extra care to not make Natalie mad at him after her ‘little incident with Crosshairs’, as everyone on base was calling it. He knew that it wasn’t her fault, but he didn’t want to risk his friendship with her over something stupid like not agreeing on what movie to watch, or what food she should eat. His thoughts were interrupted after he looked down at the small femme sitting on his thigh and saw her eyes reddening.

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“What- no, that’s not-”

“Yes you are! You’re afraid I’ll yell at you!”

“Well you’re kind of yelling right now-”

“THAT ISN’T FUNNY, BEE!” she almost screamed.

She was on the verge of tears and he hadn’t even done anything. _How was he supposed to keep her calm when she got upset over nothing?_

“It wasn’t meant to be funny! I’m sorry ok?! I just didn’t want to make you angry with me! I just wanted you to stay calm… because of the baby.” He lied.

“By not talking to me?”

“I just didn’t want to upset you… by accident! I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!”

     She suddenly leaned into him, making a loud _clang_ as she hit his chest. The movement was quick and hard, and one of the things Bee adored about her. She didn’t care about how rough she was with the bots, she basically just threw her weight onto them in any given situation. Jessica was the same way, but with Natalie it was more needy and indecisive- whereas Jessica seemed to know exactly how to use her body to make someone just as comfortable, or uncomfortable, as she wanted.

     He raised his hand and wrapped it gently around her back, squeezing her lightly. He sighed, bemoaned at how his ‘lack of behavior’ could cause Natalie such devastation. He sat with her quietly as he heard the _plink plink_ of teardrops hitting his chassis until he could no longer stand it.

“How about we go for a drive?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> I actually had this written out for like a month and a half but I couldn't figure out how to finish it...  
> it ended up sad, what a surprise xD Poor Bee, he just wants to keep his fake wife happy
> 
> I also just wanted to thank the people who sent me words of encouragement and other funny messages, you guys really make my day when you do that!
> 
> (I didn't mean to name this chapter after a song, I put the title down and then realized what I'd done lol. You guys should definitely listen to it, it fits really well)


	17. New Experiences Imminent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new adventure awaits everyone on base, most of all Natalie

     They knew that they couldn’t actually leave base, but it was nice to just drive around with the windows down and not talk to anyone for a while. Nobody seemed to even acknowledge the fact that Natalie was in the driver’s seat, and she doubted that they would even care, but for her it was an amazing thing to be driving around in an alien robot. Bumblebee gave her full control- he didn’t even start up his ignition until she pushed the button. He wanted her to feel at least a little bit normal, so he gave her a more ‘authentic’ driving experience, which also included him not talking for the majority of their little adventure. She even called her parents to chat for a few minutes until they had to leave for work, which impressed Bee to no end. He never thought that she would call them without being coaxed by someone.

     Meanwhile, on the otherwise of base, Jessica was swapping stories of past fights with Drift. He was surprised at her, considering her still semi-weak condition. She had a warrior’s spirit, and he liked that.

“So how come you look like a samurai?” she suddenly asked him.

“I landed in Japan, and very quickly began to respect Samurai and their values.”

“Oh, so you didn’t look like this before?”

“Didn’t the other Autobots explain this to you?”

“No, they did, I was just wondering if you looked kind of like this before you came here.”

“None of us looked like us before we got here.”

“Fair enough. So are you gonna teach me how to use a sword?”

“ _What?_ ”

 

“Hey, kid. Time to get to your doctor’s appointment.”

“Man… Thanks, Simmons.”

     She turned Bee around and headed back towards the med bay. Simmons laughed at the way Bumblebee was letting her handle him. He was so whipped.

“Well it was nice while it lasted, huh?”

“Yah!”

     She reached up and gently caressed the roof, something she only did when she was feeling very contended. Bee loved the gesture, but it was also a guilty pleasure of his. She never did it to any of the others so it made him feel very special. Whether or not Natalie knew this he wasn’t sure, but he loved it anyways.

 

“I don’t think the older femme has all her bolts.”

“Eh?”

“She wants me to teach her how to use a samurai sword.”

“Hah! Well that figures.”

“This does not surprise you?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“You might also want to get your bolts checked too, Wheelie.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

 

“And is there anything else to add to your-”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“You’re in labor… YOU’RE IN LABOR!”

“WAIT WHAT!?”

“I’ve just finished your scans, your muscles are contracting a very minute amount, you should be able to feel it within a few minutes! We have to get you to the delivery room!”

“But can’t they just be those fake ones that I had last week?”

“No, my scans are highly accurate. You should-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“We should move, NOW.”

 

“Holy shit it’s actually happening!”

“Well not yet, my water’s not even broken.”

“How are you being so calm right now?! I AM FREAKING OUT!”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just really tired so I don’t care?” Natalie gritted her teeth through her next contraction.

“SHE’S GOING TO BREAK MY HAND-”

“Why don’t you… hold onto me instead, _Natalie_.”

     She got up to walk around when a highly anticipated _SPLOOSH_ sounded.

“Gross.”

“Bitch, you either get out or shut up!”

“YES MA’AM.”

     Ratchet was present at the birth, but he didn’t actually deliver the baby since he had never delivered a human baby before. Bumblebee was also there for moral support- even if he did have to leave the room several times to calm down and tell himself that this was ‘normal’. Jessica handled it like a champ, even getting behind her in the bed like a partner would. It went as smoothly as it possibly could.

     The baby was made from the same material as a regular Cybertronian, but smooth and in the shape of a human infant. It had the same silvery color as its father -without the markings- and very tiny wings that looked like they would grow in more later.

     It didn’t cry when it was born, it in fact didn’t do _anything_. They were all worried that something had gone terribly wrong until it opened its eyes and stared at its mother. The doctor put it on her chest, obviously wholly disturbed at the baby’s appearance. Ratchet, on the other hand, could not wait until it was time to study it and take proper scans.

“You’re so beautiful,” Natalie said as tears rolled down her cheeks, “and you’re _mine_ \- you’re _my_ baby.”

“I have never seen a bot with eyes like that before…” Ratchet whispered to Bee.

     And it was true, the child’s eyes were something of an abnormality, just like the rest of it: dark fuchsia eyes that never looked away from Natalie’s blue ones. It was almost as if it was already starting to formulate data about her…

     She was so caught up in her new love that she forgot about the spectators and pulled her breast out to begin feeding. Bumblebee looked away as quickly as possible as Ratchet laughed at him. Meanwhile, Jessica could not contain her joy and had absolutely no shame in watching it eat. It seemed confused at first but after looking up into Natalie’s kind eyes it decided to latch on and suckle. She was half expecting it to bite her nipple off because of how hard it was sucking,

“I think I might need to take breaks and bottle feed it… this REALLY hurts.”

“I’m surprised it can even take the milk, considering its physiology. I’ll have to do some scans later to see what its organs look like.”

“ _What are you going to name it?_ ” Bee asked in his own voice.

“I’m not sure… I don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“Names on Cybertron are not dependent on the gender of the Sparkling, but rather the behavior or markings. It is custom to wait a while to find out what they’re like. This will also give you ample time to find out whether or not it is male or female, if that is still important to you later on.”

“But it doesn’t have any…”

     As she stared at her new baby, that familiar wrenching in her stomach took over. Its resemblance to Starscream was uncanny, but it was so much more organic looking and so much sweeter than him, that for once in her life, she decided to ignore that feeling. Just because it was related to the person that she hated most did not mean that it itself was going to be the same way.

     She would give it a chance, not just for her own sake, but for the sake of the Autobots. If this baby turned out to be a good person then it could help them procreate in the future, help save them...

     She loved her child dearly, but she already knew that if it showed any signs of Starscream’s personality then it would need to be dealt with. Even Optimus wouldn’t take the chance of another potential Decepticon walking around. She knew that some had been successfully converted, but with his parentage, it would just be too much of a risk. Even if there was just a sliver of doubt, that would be enough for the humans as well. And if Optimus wouldn’t take that chance, she couldn’t imagine what her own planet would do. Not to mention what Starscream himself would be willing to do to get his hands on a potential progeny once it turned on the Autobots.

     Two weeks passed and Ratchet noticed something odd while doing scans on the infant.

“By a skewed version of human physiology, he’s a male.”

“ _What?_ ”

“His anatomy is on the _inside_ , much like how a male’s testes don’t drop until puberty.”

“So… what if they don’t drop?”

“Well as long as it doesn’t become a health risk, I guess that means you’re free to assign a gender instead?”

“Well this took a weird turn…” _As if this wasn’t weird enough already._

     She debated whether or not to keep her baby gender neutral, but after thinking about having a son, she fell in love with the idea.

“My baby boy…” she almost cried. “It would be too hard for me to remember to use neutral pronouns anyways. I’ll just raise him so that he knows that he doesn’t have to stay a male if he doesn’t want to.”

“That sounds like a very good plan.” Ratchet replied with a smile, “Cybertronians do the same thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to influence your decision since it was such a personal one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Just a heads up: It's getting harder for me to write this half of the story, so I might not be able to update as often. I'm not going to drop it, this is one story I really want to go all the way with, but it might take me a bit longer to write chapters. I have some ideas but I'm just not sure how to execute them and add them to the plot in a way that would make sense. I also haven't had as much free time so I can't write whenever I want like I've done up until this point*
> 
> Ringing in the new year with a new chapter!
> 
> Yes Ratchet freaked out more than he should have, yes he took her to the delivery room way too early- but bless his spark, he does love his fake daughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Jessica looks like Nathalie Emmanuel, but a wee bit darker; and Natalie looks sort of like Alison Lohman, but with dark brown hair


End file.
